Underneath the surface
by spoodle monkey
Summary: AU. A group of students are offered the chance to take part in a research project in the artic- what they find however will have them fighting for their lives. CAMHUNTER BLAKETORI


Disclaimer: Well I used to own them and then the men in those clean white coats showed up and stuck me in this padded room, so now all I own is my cell mate, George, the big purple elephant. We play chess a lot. He tends to win.

A/N- this is an AU, alternate universe story, so yes, it is very different from the series. but that's alright, cause they're still themselves...if that makes any sense. so read and review and tell me if my crazy mind made any sense in this story! (it also really amuses me that a character from the show, who's in this story, has the same first name as me!) -yes, i am that weird.

* * *

Sharp eyes hidden behind thick-rimmed glasses watched the clear sky as the approaching dot grew larger and larger. Annoyed, he turned away from the sight, leaving the other members of the crew to greet their guests. The metal hallway of the drilling platform would have been enough to scare anyone, but considering that he'd been living there for the past six months, they were home to him.

The whirring of the helicopter faded away as he entered the elevator, intent on getting back to work before the place became a zoo.

"Hold the elevator!" He reached out at the last moment, allowing the petite woman to slip in, arms loaded down with paperwork. "Thanks Cam."

"No problem." He pushed one of the buttons on the elevator wall, and then leaned back, turning his gaze back to the woman. "What's with all the paper, Kelly?"

"More forms for the university students to fill out. I'm having them meet me in my office after the tour." She told him, grinning at his frown and shifting the stack again. "I figure I've got awhile, with the size of this place."

"Remind me why we need more people here, again?"

"Because there's barely anyone here at the moment and we made a deal with the university-"

"Yeah, I know. They keep funding us and we take on a few of their students for a while." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This should be fun."

"They're not that much younger then you. You might get along," The door pinged open and she stepped out, ignoring his incredulous look. "You never know if you don't try."

The door slid shut again before he could come up with a sarcastic remark. He had discovered a long time ago that people his age were generally annoying as hell and didn't know the sharp end of the knife from the dull end. Images of the students wandering around, breaking everything they touched and just generally disrupting his work flashed before his eyes. This was going to be a long three weeks, he decided, stepping out of the elevator at his floor.

The blissfully silent floor. He'd chosen this area specifically because no one else had. It was completely empty, save for him, which was why he loved it so much. It was the perfect environment for him to work in.

Stepping into his makeshift work area, he slid behind his desk and grabbed the book he was looking for; flipping it open to continue his translation of one of the artefacts they found the day before.

One thing to be said about working in the artic was the ice kept everything nearly perfectly preserved. It made his job that much easier.

The shrill ringing of the phone broke through the silence. Sighing, he picked it up, already knowing that he was being called back up to 'play nice' with the new arrivals. He was dreading it already.

* * *

Hunter stepped out of the helicopter, ducking low as the wind swept snow up around them and managed to make his hair even messier then it had been before; and that was no easy task.

Next to him, Blake was bent low as well, duffle slung over his shoulder, excited grin on his face as they made their way to a small group standing next to what could only be the front door.

Behind them, the three remaining students, were climbing out of the copter, shooting wary glances up at the blades until they seemed to catch on to what the brothers were doing and ducked down low, lower than they needed to and hurried to catch up.

"Welcome!" An older man with bright red cheeks from the cold and sparkling eyes greeted them cheerfully. The first thing that popped into his head was Christmas. "Lets get you all inside, out of the cold."  
He couldn't have agreed more. He'd grown up in California weather and the artic was the opposite in every way. The group moved inside, where they pulled off their layers and left them by the door as they quickly discovered that they would not need them inside, with the blasting heat.

"I'd like to thank you all for volunteering to help with our little expedition." The man turned to them again as they gathered inside another room. "My name is Doctor McNeil, but you can all call me Frank."

"Dude, this place is huge!" One of the other students with curly hair exclaimed, glancing down another corridor.

"Yes it is, which is why one of our rules is to stay to the designated areas and try to stay with a buddy." Frank nodded, smiling. "We'll give you a quick tour and show you your rooms, and then Kelly, one of our researchers here has some more paper work for you."

"So, no one told us exactly what we'd be doing here." The only female student spoke up. A pretty blond, dressed in blue. Hunter grinned, elbowing his brother lightly for him to close his mouth and stop staring.

"During your stay here, you'll be assisting some of our researchers and getting hands on experience with a actual dig." Frank grinned and this guy was just too cheerful for Hunter. Did he ever not smile?

He'd initially only volunteered to go because Blake had wanted to go, but it did sound kind of interesting and he had to admit that part of him was excited. They were lead out of the room and down a few hallways, stopping here and there to point out certain rooms and where everyone ate, met, hung out in their spare time etc. He'd been surprised when he had actually spotted a pool table in the rec room.

Eventually they'd ended up dropping their bags in their assigned rooms, they each had one to themselves which Hunter was grateful for, before continuing on with the tour. They'd been through three floors before stepping out of the elevator into another floor that was silent.

He was trying to figure out what they were doing there, when every where else had been brightly lit, with people in it, this place had only a few lights on and seemed deserted when there was a loud 'crash'!

Frank and the other researcher assisting in the tour looked at each other, worried, before jogging ahead. Hunter instinctively followed them, leaving the others to do what they wanted, running around a corner and pausing in the doorway of a well lit room, where Frank and the researcher were kneeling next to another man on the floor.

"What happened?" They hadn't noticed him yet, so he stood there awkwardly as the remaining group came around the corner.

"Don't know, it released some sort of…" The Asian man, maybe only a year or two older than himself, trailed off as though unsure how to explain. "One minute I'm translating some of the writing, the next I'm laying on my back on the floor."

"And this is why you should have come up when I phoned you." Frank joked, apparently sure that the danger was over. "Come on, I left the students back at the elevator." He pulled the man to his feet, forcing him to sit back on the chair. Hunter cleared his throat to announce their presence. "Oh! Here they are now!"

The doctor gestured for the group to step into the room. Hunter crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall and eyeing the small box on the table warily. It was probably what the researcher had been working on and if it was, he wasn't getting anywhere near it.

"Now that you're all here, you can meet another one of the people working here. This is Cameron, he's been here about as long as I have." Frank introduced the man.

"Cam." The man corrected, frowning. He didn't seem that pleased with having people in his workspace.

"Right, well, these are the students the University sent. Dustin Brookes, Shane Clark, Tori Hanson and Blake and Hunter Bradly." Frank introduced them. Dark eyes rested on him longer than the others, before flickering away and back at the object on the desk.

"Nice to meet you, now can you leave? I'm in the middle of something." Cam snapped, reaching across the table to snag a large book.

"Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should get Kelly to check you out?"

"Justin, I'm fine." Cam sent a glare at the other researcher, pushing his glasses further up his nose as they slipped down his face in a way that Hunter could only describe as cute. He kept his mouth shut though.

"Alright, alright." Justin held his hands up in surrender, heading for the door. Hunter sent one last look at the other man, bent over the table, already engrossed in his work. He glanced up briefly when he felt Hunter watching him, raising an eyebrow.

The blond turned and hurried out of the room to catch up to the others, where Justin was telling them how one or two of them would be lucky enough to work with Cam for the next three weeks. Somehow he figured that was sarcasm.

* * *

Cam glanced up from where he had been quietly eating his breakfast and reading his book, as someone slid into the seat across from him. Kelly grinned at him, plunking her tray down in front of her.

"You're up early." Cam commented, leaving his book momentarily.

"Decided to get an early start on some of the paper work, then I might head down to the site later." She announced, digging into her cereal.

"Busy day." Cam nodded, marking his page and closing his book.

"Yup. So I heard about the other day." She held up her hand as he opened his mouth to speak, silencing him. "I don't care if you felt fine. I'm the doctor here, you still should have let me check you out." He raised an eyebrow at the statement, smirk making its way onto his face as she blushed, realising what she had said. "You know what I mean." She muttered, smacking his arm lightly.

Laughing lightly, he dropped the teasing for the moment, taking a bite of his cooling breakfast.

"Now why don't you ever do this with the others?" She asked, confusing him slightly.

"Have breakfast with them at five in the morning?" He paused as though considering the question. "Maybe because they don't get up till at least nine?"

"That's not what I meant." Kelly smiled, threatening to shoot a spoonful of food at him. "Why don't you ever laugh around them? Lighten up a bit. They all think that you're this evil creature from the abyss. Well except Frank."

"And I like it that way, thank you very much." He announced, eyes drawn to something over her shoulder. Turning around, she spotted what he had been watching, waving them over.

Hunter Bradly approached their table, the lost look he'd been wearing a moment ago, gone, replaced by a killer smile that Cam had to tear his eyes away from.

"Morning." Kelly chirped as the blond sat next to her.

"Morning. I didn't think anyone else got up at this time." Cam immersed himself in his food, figuring that the faster he finished, the faster he could leave.

"I don't normally. Cam's the one that's always up this early, that is, if he goes to sleep at all."

"I get more done at night." Cam muttered, which only seemed to amuse Kelly.

"Or so he says." She grinned, angling her seat so she was facing them both. "So, Hunter, what are your plans for today?"

"I'm being assigned to a researcher today. That's bout all I know." The blond admitted, shovelling a spoonful of eggs into his mouth.

"Well, maybe you'll end up with one of us!" Cam sincerely doubted it. He'd specifically requested no assistants and Frank had been talking about assigning the other Bradly brother and one of the others to Kelly.

"That would be cool." Blue eyes glanced quickly over to him as Hunter said this, then back down to his food. Kelly seemed to notice this as well, shooting him a glance across the table. He pointedly ignored it, climbing to his feet and grabbing his tray.

"Got to get back to work." He mumbled, dropping his tray on the stack and heading out the door.

* * *

"I told you, no!" Cam snarled, shoving the other man back a few steps. "What part of no do you not understand? Is it the English? I can say it in other languages."

"Come on Cam, we've been stuck out here for months, don't tell me you're not…_lonely._" Justin smirked, stepping forwards again and grabbing his arm. Hunter chose this moment to step around the corner, two sets of eyes flying to him.

"Am I interrupting something?" He asked, eyebrow raised, glaring down the brown haired researcher. Justin seemed to be deciding whether he could take him in a fight, before Cam yanked his arm away. Seemingly making up his mind, Justin turned and stormed off down another hall.

"You okay?" He asked Cam, stepping forwards.

"I'm fine." The other man snapped, distractedly rubbing at his arm. "What do you want?"

"You forgot this." Hunter held out the book, seeing the anger slide off the other mans face as he took the book from him.

"Thank you." He muttered, tucking the book under his arm and walking away. Hunter fell into step next to him, hands tucked into his pockets.

"So, what's that guys problem anyways?" Cam shot him a look that clearly said 'drop it', but he ignored it, nudging the other mans shoulder with is own. Surprisingly, Cam didn't pull away from the touch; instead reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose and letting out a long, sigh.

"He's an annoyance. Don't worry, I'll deal with him." Hunter didn't bother bringing up the implication that he was in fact worried. He had no doubt that Cam would take care of the guy, but in the meantime, he'd be on the lookout. "I'd appreciate it, if you didn't mention this to anyone."

"Mention what?" Cam opened his mouth to reply, and then shut it at the smirk on Hunters face.

"Exactly."

* * *

"Hey Cam!" He glanced up as the blond appeared at his door.

"Hunter." He replied, going back to his work. The younger man walked in, moving around the room in an irritating manor, picking up various books and artefacts, before putting them back down, just as quickly. "Was there something you wanted?"

Ever since the other day with Justin, the blond seemed to be haunting him, showing up in his workspace every time he seemed to have a break. The sad thing was that he didn't seem to mind as much as he led others to believe.

"Nope. Ruth gave Shane and me some time off, so Shane took off to find Dustin and I decided to come down here."

"Shane and I." Cam corrected, earning an amused look. He sighed, putting down his pen and closing the textbook he was using. "Shouldn't you be off with Blake or something?"

"Nope." Hunter shook his head, grinning and seating himself on a stool on the other side of the table. "Blake's working with Tori. There's no way I'd ever interrupt that." And that left him and Hunter. He sighed, changing the subject.

"Has Ruth taken you down to the site yet?"

"She said she'd take us down tomorrow. Blake's already been down there with Tori, but I don't think Kyle has taken Dustin down either." Hunter leaned forwards, head resting in his hands as he studied Cam.

"What?"

"Have you eaten yet?" He raised an eyebrow, surprised at the sudden change in conversation. He shook his head no. "Great, lets go get something to eat!"

He didn't get a chance to protest as Hunter made his way around the table, grabbing his hand and dragged him out of the room.

The cafeteria was filled with laughter, a small group gathered around two tables pulled together. Blake grinned, noticing how Tori's nose crinkled when she laughed. Shane looked like he was trying to decide whether to be outraged or burst out laughing as Dustin proceeded to rub more whipped crème on his face.

He looked up in time to see his brother enter the room, a reluctant looking Cam trailing behind him. It was fairly obvious that his brother was crushing on the older man, even though the researcher seemed oblivious to it. Blake waved them over, gesturing for them to join their little group.

"Hey, what'd I miss?" Hunter asked, pulling up a chair for himself and Cam. The researcher shot an intrigued look in Shane's direction as though trying to figure out why he had food all over his face.

"Shane decided to try the mud mask." Tori explained sombrely. This sent Dustin off into another round of hysterics, a small smile breaking past Tori's act.

"I've heard oatmeal is much better than…whipped cream." Cam said, bemused. Apparently the cold act the older man put on was exactly that, an act. He seemed kind of funny, in a sarcastic way.

"Speaking from personal experience?" Hunter teased and Cam let him, merely offering a smirk.

"And here I thought you hated people younger than you, Cam." The researcher tensed at the voice, pinching the bridge of his nose as though to stave off a headache.

"Justin." Cam replied coolly. "Shouldn't you be off sucking up to Frank?" Blake watched as his brother's eyes narrowed dangerously. The other researcher that had approached their table ignored him, attention on Cam. It was fairly clear that neither Cam nor his brother liked this guy; he got the feeling that nothing good would come from him.

"Nah, I was going to see if you wanted to…help me with some research." The tone of his voice implied that Justin meant something very different than research. Hunter looked ready to leave Justin in the middle of nowhere if kept talking.

Tori had gotten up from her seat, silently, carrying her tray over to the stack. Probably to get away from the creep, he couldn't blame her for wanting to leave.

As she passed by the man to get to the stacks though, the tray lurched, the contents of her lunch flying forwards to land on Justin. Blake fought back laughter as the researcher spluttered indignantly.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry!" Tori apologized, wiping at some of the oatmeal, only to have it spread further. Justin swatted her hands away, storming off without a backwards glance. As soon as he left the room, the table burst out into laughter, Cam included.

"Wow, I didn't know you were that much of a klutz." Shane commented, as Tori tried hard not to laugh.

"I'm not usually. The cold air must have affected me." She grinned, carrying her now empty tray over to the stacks.

* * *

Kelly stepped out of the service elevator, Frank, and two other researchers with her, all wrapped tightly in their winter clothes. The site was a short walk from the elevator, buried under feet of ice.

She held her kit tightly in her hand, excitement creeping into her as it always did when she returned here. Strings of light lit the path towards the large area they had cleared away.

"What do you have today?" One of the other researchers with her, Ruth, asked as they joined two other people in the cleared out area.

"It's amazing, some of these artefacts are perfectly preserved!" Kyle bubbled, rambling on about a tablet they had discovered. "Cam will love this!"

"Guys over here!" She turned at the excited call, where May was waving to them. "You'll never believe what I just found!" Kelly rushed over with the others, eyes widening at the sight before them.

"This is amazing." She reached out, to touch the ice. Frozen in the ice was the blurry figure of a humanoid creature. She's never seen anything like it before. "We have to tell the others." Stepping back, she couldn't tear her eyes away from it. It was beautiful.

"Alright, lets get this thing out of the ice people! I want extra precautions taken!" Frank directed, grin lighting up his already cheerful face.

* * *

"It's amazing." Cam whispered as though afraid if he spoke any louder he'd break the dream, wake up and the creature would no longer be there. Whatever it was, it wasn't human, per say. Possibly something older, he wasn't an expert in the field, but it looked older than anything previously discovered.

"Once it's warmer we'll take some cell samples, but if you could get anything from the translation that would be really helpful." Frank said. "Now, you're all very lucky to be here at this time, and in your first week as well!" The students were gathered around, staring in awe and disgust at the creature lying on the metal table.

"Dude, that's gross." Shane said

"Will we get a chance to study it?" Tori elbowed her friend, glancing hopefully at the creature.

"Once we're sure it's safe." Kelly assured her. "I'm going to need Kyle, Ruth and Justin working with me." She told Frank. The older man nodded, then turned to Cam. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he realised what was about to happen.

"No, not a chance." He said before Frank could speak.

"You'll need help on the translations and it will only be for a few hours." In the end, he knew he couldn't exactly argue with his boss, unfortunately. Sighing he left himself resigned to absolutely no work getting done for the rest of the day. "Excellent!" Frank clapped his hands together, already knowing he'd won the argument.

"What's going on?" Blake asked.

"You'll all be assisting Cam with his work today." Turning on heel, he left the room, already feeling Hunter catching up to him, closely followed by the others.

"I take it you don't really find a lot of those." Hunter muttered, referring to the creature.

"Not really, no. It's a once in a life time discovery." He let some of the wonderment filter into his voice. And he was stuck playing babysitter.

"Any idea what it is?" Blake asked as the rest of the group caught up to them. "It looked really old."

"It looked like an alien." Dustin supplied helpfully. "What? It did!" The others continued to stare at him as they waited for the elevator.

"So I don't know if anyone has asked you this yet, but how did you get picked?" Cam asked, leaning back against the wall. He really did want to know too. Out of everyone the University could have sent them, why this group? It was certainly strange, with unique dynamics.

"They were looking for volunteers. It sounded cool." Blake supplied. He turned his gaze to the blond leaning with his arms crossed against the wall.

"I volunteered cause Blake was going."

"Extra credit." Shane admitted grudgingly. "Needed to pull my mark up."

"Dude, it got me out of school for three weeks!" Dustin grinned, then added. "Plus, my parents decided it would look good on a job application." All eyes turned to Tori for her answer.

"It sounded interesting." Cam nodded, satisfied with the answers as the elevator doors pinged open.

* * *

"Maybe you should go get us some coffee." Frank rubbed his eyes, directing the statement at Kyle who was staring blankly ahead, waiting for the computer to come up with the needed answers.

"Sure." The other man agreed easily, turning to Justin. "You coming?" Frank turned back to the body as the two men left.

Kelly took a cell sample, setting it to the side as she picked up a needle, inserting it into the arm to take a blood sample. His eyes widened, as the creature seemed to jerk as the needle pierced the skin.

"What the-?" He stepped forwards, rubbing his eyes again. It must have been a trick of the light. Kelly pulled back the syringe full of greenish liquid, eyes sparkling.

"This really is amazing." She murmured, storing the syringe to be looked at later.

"Nobel prize type amazing." Ruth added in from where she was testing the cells. "The cells keep regenerating themselves."

"You truly are a fascinating creature." Frank murmured, leaning over it, its skin was slimy, and pale green in colouring. If it had been standing, it would easily tower over any human, with claw like hands.

The creature seemed to move again. He blinked, sure he was hallucinating, and it couldn't be moving. Not after being frozen for so long.

"Frank look out!" Kelly's scream came too late as one of those clawed hands closed around his throat.

* * *

The sudden blaring of an alarm had them all jumping out of their seats after an hour of working in silence.

"What the hell?" Cam cursed, grabbing a walky talky from a shelf. "What's going on?" Blake glanced worriedly over at his brother as static was all that replied. It didn't look like a drill, as the alarm continued to blare, before suddenly going silent. Then the lights flickered and died.

"What's going on Cam?" Tori cried out from next to him. The emergency lights came on a second later, casting eerie shadows around the room. He reached out gripping her hand lightly and offering a reassuring smile.

"I don't know." Cam muttered, rummaging around before producing a flashlight and another walky talky. "But I'm going to find out." Hunter stepped in front of the other man as he headed for the door.

"No way. You're not going out there." Blake had to agree. They were probably better off staying put.

"Yeah man, haven't you seen horror movies?" Dustin asked.

"Dustin, this is not a horror movie. There are no monsters out there." Cam snapped, figure tense in the dim light. "I'm going to find out what's going on and you're all going to stay here."

He didn't think that was a good idea, even if it made sense. Cam knew the area better than any of them; it didn't mean he liked it.

"I'm going with you." Hunter announced, arms crossed defiantly. There was no way to change his mind now. Cam seemed to realise this as well, sighing in annoyance.

"Fine, before I change my mind." He turned to the others. "If you need to contact me, use the radio, but stay put."

"Hey bro." Blake caught Hunters arm as the two turned to leave. "Be careful." His brother nodded, clapping him on the shoulder, then followed Cam out of the room. Part of him wanted to go with them, but it was probably best if he stayed with the others. He just couldn't shake the growing sense of dread in his stomach that something was very wrong.

* * *

The elevator was shut down, so they had headed for the nearest stairwell, climbing the stairs silently. Just as silently, Cam slowly opened the door, peering out into the hall. Even if he had told the others that there was nothing out there, he was still worried. He hadn't seen or heard anyone, and in the months that he had been there, they had never had any problems like this.

Hunter stayed close to him as they made their way down the hall, too close sometimes. When he paused at a corner, the blond sometimes walked into him, as though he wasn't paying attention or would stop so he was nearly pressed up against Cam's back. It made it hard to think.

"Where are we going?" Hunter's voice was loud in the silence, warm breath puffing against his neck. An involuntary shiver ran through him at it, as he turned to face the blond.

"The lab where they're keeping the creature. That's where the others were." He explained, letting out a startled yelp, as he was shoved through a doorway. A hand covered his mouth to keep him from asking what exactly the blond thought he was doing, pinning him to the with Hunters larger frame.

After a moment, the hand fell away, but Hunter remained where he was, tilting his head down to whisper in Cam's ear.

"There was something there." Cam let out a snort of disbelief, as a crashing sound was heard further down the hallway. He squeezed his eyes shut, clamping his mouth shut, and a strange amount of fear running through him. Hunters hands were clamped on his arms, head burrowed in his neck. He had been reassuring the others that it was nothing, so why was he suddenly feeling so worked up over it?

He realised that he was holding his breath, sucking it in, greedily as the noise faded and disappeared.

"It was probably one of the other researchers." Cam told him softly, falling comfortably back into his sarcasm as a front for the inexplicable fear.

"You really wanted to find out?" Hunter snapped, pulling back slightly.

"Are you always this paranoid?" Cam asked, searching his suddenly blank mind for something to say. Having Hunter pressed up against him was not helping him think, plan. He felt, more than heard the blond chuckle, lightening the situation. He found himself laughing along, quietly, but still laughing. Without thinking, he leaned forwards, resting his head on Hunters shoulder as they laughed. Arms wrapped around his back, Hunters face pressed against the crook of his neck.

They shouldn't be laughing, shouldn't be standing there, they needed to find out what was going on, but try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to move.

"Come on." Hunter was the one that pulled back in the end, humour lingering in his voice. "We need to find the others." Cam nodded wordlessly, allowing himself to be led out into the empty hall.

* * *

He was beginning to recognise the area around them, he hadn't been there long, but he was fairly observant when it came to his surroundings. They were close to the main lab. Cam had taken the lead, able to tell exactly where they were going, even in the dark.

The swinging door that led into the large room creaked ominously as they pushed it open. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to jump out at them from the shadows. His brother may have been right, when he said that he had an unhealthy addiction to horror movies.

So caught up in his thoughts that he collided with the older man, as he stood frozen in the doorway.

"Cam?" Hunter asked, trying to peer past the researcher. What he saw made his blood run cold. In the dim light of the emergency lights, he could see the room trashed, tables over turned, computers smashed.

He silently pushed past Cam, taking it upon himself to find out what happened, and slipped. Hunter went down hard, landing on the floor, in a puddle of sticky liquid.

"Are you alright?" Cam leaned over him, holding out a hand to help him up. Hunter wiped whatever the substance was off on his jeans, before accepting the hand, climbing to his feet.

"Yeah, I slipped on something." The flashlight beam landed on whatever had caused Hunter to fall, and he wished that it hadn't. Blood. There was a puddle of blood, exactly where he had fallen. He had fallen in blood, lots of it. No one survived with that much missing.

"Hunter." A hand on his cheek, forced him to look at the older man. "Breathe." He did as instructed, fighting off the panic. He shouldn't be panicking, if anyone should have been panicking, it should have been Cam, he knew everyone there…oh god.

"Oh god, Cam." The Asian man turned, following Hunters line of sight over his shoulder. The trail of blood led to the other side of the room, pair of boots was barely visible behind an overturned desk.

Cautiously, the researcher made his way over, pushing the desk partially out of the way. A choked sound escaped Cam as he fell to his knees next to the body. Hunter was by his side in an instant, wincing at the sight before them.

"Frank…" Cam muttered, eyes fixated on the mauled body. He was missing a large part of his throat, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. It looked like a wild animal had gotten hold of it.

"Cam." Hunter tugged on his shoulder, noticing something wrong with the picture. Cam shrugged him off; reaching forwards to lower the dead mans eyelids. "Cam." He said insistently.

"What?" He snapped, rounding on Hunter.

"Where's the creature?" The other man opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, glancing around the room. Crouching down, Hunter reached out and silently pulled Cam towards him, offering any comfort he could through a hug.

His head shot up at a small sound from across the room. His eyes sought out the source of the noise as he kept one arm protectively around the other man. The door to a closet was open a crack. Had it been open when they had gotten there?

Reluctantly, Hunter let go of Cam, climbing silently to his feet. Silently he made his way to the door, gripping the handle, wary of what he would find. Throwing the door open, he grabbed the nearest weapon and swung it- stopping at the last moment.

"Kelly?" Cam called over his shoulder, as the researcher approached the closet. Kelly slowly opened her eyes, from where they had been squeezed shut. She was curled up in a ball, a piece of a chair gripped tightly in her hand. Panic was replaced by relief as she slowly realised who they were.

"Cam? Hunter?" A hiccupped laugh escaped her as Hunter reached down, pulling her to her feet. "Thank god!" She lunged at Cam, pulling him into a bone-cracking hug, as though her life depended on it. Hunter just stood by awkwardly, firmly ignoring the flash of jealousy.

"What happened?" He asked quietly after a moment. The petit woman sighed, and he could just make out the tear tracks running down her face in the dim lighting.

"I don't know. One moment we're taking blood and cell samples and the next it has Frank by the neck." She broke out into tears, catching sight of the dead man.

"Kelly, what had Frank by the neck?" Hunter asked as Cam sat heavily on an overturned cabinet.

"The specimen."

* * *

Frank was dead. Gone. And they hadn't been able to find anyone else. Were they all dead? He barely registered Hunter leading Kelly and him back down to his work area, where the other students still were.

He couldn't hear above the roaring in his ears. All he could think was, Frank was gone. The man who had been like a father to him, dead. And the creature, their great discovery- was alive. Was killing people, they were sitting ducks there, who knew which one of them would be next or even when! It could be seeking them out right then and none of them would have been any the wiser.

"Cam." He was snapped back to reality abruptly, blue eyes filled with worry before him. He was sitting down, he realised belatedly, in his office. The others gathered around. "Are you alright?"

No he was not alright. Everything was going wrong. This discovery was supposed to be wonderful, an advancement for human beings. What had happened?

"I'm fine." Hunter clearly didn't believe him, but he let it drop. Everything faded into the background as he let Hunter explain everything to the others, his mind whirling. Part of him wanted to curl up and sleep, but he knew they needed to get out of there.

"I'll head for the main level, they showed us where the CB radios were on the tour. I'll get help, but as soon as I'm gone, you have to barricade the door, just in case." This caught his attention.

"I'm going with you." Cam announced, unconsciously mirroring Hunters defiant position and words from before.

"You're in no shape to-" The glare Cam shot Shane silenced him mid sentence.

"I know this station and I am not going to sit around while this thing kills my friends." His glare dared anyone to oppose him. Kelly offered him a weak smile from where she was curled up in the corner with a blanket.

Hunter reached out, tilting his chin up so he was looking him the eye. Cam stared back, unblinking as the blond searched his face for something. Finally the younger man pulled back, nodding; apparently he had found what he had been looking for.

"Fine." Hunter grabbed the flashlight off the table. "We'll go. But as soon as we're out, block the door and don't let anyone in." He stared directly at Blake as he said this. The younger Bradly nodded grudgingly.

"Come on." Cam muttered, sliding off the stool and making his way out of the safety of the room without a backwards glance. He had a score to settle.

* * *

Blake watched as his brother left once again, feeling like he should be going with him. Still, he made himself remain behind, helping to block the door as soon as the two were through.

He just couldn't shake the feeling that that was the last time he'd see his brother. It scared him, a lot. It was a small relief that there was at least someone with Hunter, someone that knew the place better than anyone else.

But as Tori stood next to him, slipping her hand into his, he wished there was more he could do.

* * *

He had a basic idea of where they were headed. Towards the surface. He just wasn't really sure how to get there. Cam had silently taken the lead, winding their way through corridors and staircases that he hadn't even known existed. And all the while, Cam remained quiet, not saying a word.

Hunter wanted nothing more than to take care of this himself, give the older man a chance to rest, to try and cope. But Cam was having no part of that. He had to admit, that he was glad for the company.

Cam stopped suddenly, causing him to nearly walk into him as he was yanked out of his thoughts. They were at the cafeteria, he realised with a start. But the normally bright, full cafeteria was now ransacked, and deserted.

"It probably smelt the food." Cam whispered, entering the room. And here Hunter had been thinking that their best option was to keep moving and not enter the scary dark room, where anything could jump out at them.

"Shouldn't we keep going?" He prodded, grabbing Cam's hand when the researcher ignored him.

"Shh!" Instead of pulling away, Cam returned the grip, holding his hand and leading him towards the kitchen. "I heard something."

Hunter nodded, taking comfort in the contact as they approached the door, slowly pushing it open. The older man let out an annoyed breath of air as the blond positioned himself in front as they walked into the smaller room. Food was everywhere, strewn across surfaces and the floor.

Cam's grip on his hand tightened suddenly, as a slight noise caught their attention. Every bone in his body was screaming for him to turn away, not to go there, but he found his feet moving his cautiously to peer behind the table.

"Justin?" The brown haired researcher jerked at his name, wild eyes with a tear stained face spotting them. He was leaning over something, he realised, taking a step closer to see what it was. Justin pulled whatever it was closer to him, glaring at them as though he dared them to take it away.

"Justin." He heard Cam say from next to him. "Is that…Kyle?" A switch seemed to flick in Justin as he gave a muffled sob, easing his grip on the other man enough, so they could see the body in his arms.

Kyle's eyes were closed and he looked pale in the dim lighting. Hunter crouched down next to the two, slowly reaching out so he didn't startle the other man. There was a pulse, faint, but there.

"He's alive." Hunter told Cam, turning back to Justin. "What happened?"

"Frank sent us for coffee and then this thing…it attacked us." He tightened his grip on Kyle again.

"Where is it?" Cam put a hand on his shoulder, tugging urgently. Hunter looked up; following the older mans line of vision. Outside, in the cafeteria, he could see the faint outline of something moving around. It didn't look human and he wasn't taking a chance.

"Come on, we need to go." He whispered, tugging the unconscious man from Justin's arms as Cam pulled the brown haired researcher to his feet. The group quietly ducked out a connecting door, moving quickly down the hall. A loud crash from the kitchen had then breaking out into a jog.

"In here." Cam turned, herding them into a small room. Kelly's office, he realised with a start. As soon as they were inside, Cam shut and bolted the door, before turning and rummaging through a nearby cupboard.

"Found it." He came back victorious, first aide kit in his hand. Justin pushed everything off of the large desk, as Hunter laid the unconscious form on it. "You need to clean and bandage his wounds." Cam instructed, handing the other researcher the kit.

"What about you two?"

"We're going to get help." Cam glanced briefly at Hunter, nodding slightly

* * *

Dustin's head jerked up as he fought to stay awake. He was terrified, scared out of his mind, but his body was betraying him, didn't want to stay awake. Shane was sitting next to him, back against the wall on the cold floor- dozing fitfully. He didn't want to fall asleep, things always were able to sneak up on you when you were asleep.

The sound of the radio had him nearly jumping out of his skin. It turned out to be enough to wake Shane, next to him.

"_We found Justin and Kyle, but so far there hasn't been any sign of the others."_ Cam's voice filled the room, as everyone held their breath, tense.

"What about that thing?" Tori asked, the only one that appeared truly awake.

"_Nearly ran into it."_ He saw Blake shuddered at the news, realising just how worried he was. His brother was out there, not safe in there like the rest of them, well, as safe as one could get in a situation like this.

"Bro, you guys should just come back down. Someone will come looking for us eventually." Blake spoke up, taking the radio.

"_Yeah, eventually." _Hunters voice retorted. _"We don't have that much time. Kyle needs a doctor and we're gonna be this things lunch if we continue to sit around."_ She could hear Cam in the background pointing out that they weren't actually sure that it wanted to eat them.

"_We'll call if anything comes up."_ Cam announced, before filling the room with the sound of static. Shane looked over at him, thinking the same thing. What if they didn't get a chance to call?

* * *

Cam was on edge. So far they had found four of the others, one deceased. Where were the others? It wasn't like there were a lot of them, but they still should have run into someone else, even if they were hiding. It made him nervous.

Hunter seemed to notice this, squeezing his hand gently. And it was odd, because they were still holding hands and he felt like he should be embarrassed, but he wasn't it. It felt completely natural and reassured him. He liked to think it was the same for the blond too.

They were close to the communications room and after that all he had to do was get the CB radio working and they'd be home free- or something like that. They reached the top of the stairs, opening the door a crack and peering out to check if it was safe. Light filtered in through a window, but otherwise, everything was still.

"All clear." Cam murmured, making to step out into the hall. Hunter stopped him though, spinning him around and kissing him, lips moving against his, before he melted into the kiss, lips parting as they deepened it.

"What was that for?" He asked as they pulled back, pleasantly flushed.

"For luck." Hunter replied amusement and something more in his eyes. Cam nodded, quickly pulling Hunter in for another kiss.

"You can never have too much luck." He stated, turning and heading out into the hallway.

The room they were looking for was somewhere around here, he read the numbers on the doors as they passed by. Hunter tapped his shoulder, pointing at a door to his right. Grinning, he headed in that direction, pushing the door open in relief.

Something hit him in the chest, catching him off guard and knocking him backwards into the opposite wall in the hall way. The breath rushed out of him as his head connected with concrete, slipping to the floor.

"Cam!" The world blurred in and out of focus as something landed next to him, unmoving. The last thing he noticed before consciousness slipped away was the feeling of something gripping his leg and how cold the floor was as he was dragged away.

* * *

Blake was growing anxious and it showed. He had begun pacing the room, casting annoyed glances at the radio sitting on the table. She was tempted to tell him to just pick it up already and find out if the others were okay, but what good would that do any of them?

If the others were feeling anything like her, they were all anxious to be out there, helping, finding a way to fight this thing. She'd seen enough horror and action flicks to have an entire arsenal of ideas. Unfortunately, the logical side of her kept of choosing to speak up and remind her that those ideas were in fact from movies.

Kelly seemed to be the only one not feeling the anxiousness, asleep in the corner, worn out from the past hour or so. Tori envied her, to be able to turn off her mind like that. Not that she wanted to change spots with the other woman.

Blake finally snapped, grabbing the radio off the table as though someone was going to stop him from doing so.

"Hunter, Cam. You guys there?" They held their breath, waiting for the voices that told them they were alright. Static was the only thing emitted from the small hand held device.

"Hunter?" Blake tried again. "Come on, bro. Answer me." Still nothing. Dread was growing in the pit of her stomach, coiling up towards her throat. What had happened? What if the creature had found them?

"Dude, that can't be good." Dustin muttered, the worry seeping into his voice.

"We need to do something." Shane said, climbing to his feet. "Go out there and look for them."

"And hope that the creature doesn't find us too?" Tori asked, the question coming out harsher than she had meant. "What could we possibly do?"

"Well we could…" Shane trailed off, unsure of what they could do, a group of students and an injured researcher.

"Dude, what would Batman do?" Dustin asked, standing as well, determined look on his face. None knew how to answer the question, so he continued. "He'd find its kryptonite, its weakness!"

He had a point. Maybe her movie ideas weren't completely ridiculous. What were the chances that if they all put their heads together, they could come up with something? It was worth a shot.

"_Blake?"_ The group froze, as Hunters groggy voice came through the radio.

"Bro? You had me worried there. You alright?" There was a long pause on the other end.

"_Shit! It took Cam!"_ It? He couldn't mean the creature. If it had Cam…

"What do you mean it took him?"

"_It knocked me out and took him! It was like it was waiting for us."_

"Alright bro, come on back here. We can work this out together." Blake instructed, lifting his finger from the receiver and waiting for the response that said Hunter was on his way back. There was none. "Bro?"

"_I'm going to find Cam. We can't spare the time; you didn't see what this thing did to Frank."_

"No, wait! Don't you dare go Hunter!" The line went silent on the other end, it appeared as though Hunter had turned off his radio. "Hunter?" Blake tried again, tossing the radio away in frustration when it became apparent that his brother was not going to reply.

She could feel her own frustration rising. Her friend was missing, the other putting himself in danger and they were supposed to just stay put?

"Alright," Tori began, catching the attention of the group. "What's the plan?"

* * *

It took some coaxing, but finally the door swung open to reveal a nervous looking Justin. Hunter pushed past him into the room, noticing for the first time how the temperature in the structure seemed to be dropping.

"Where's Cam?" Justin asked glancing around. The researcher had changed drastically, from the sleaze that had been hitting on Cam the other day. It took Hunter a moment to realise why he looked different. Justin was missing his heavy sweater. Further investigation revealed it on Kyle, underneath an emergency blanket. "He looked cold." He explained at Hunters look.

"That thing took Cam." Hunter told him, digging through shelves and cupboards, looking for something he could use. "How's he doing?" He nodded at the unconscious researcher on the desk.

"No better, but thankfully no worse. He's strong." He was surprised at the affectionate tone in Justin's voice, shoving to the back of his head for later. In the meantime, he needed something that would help him find Cam.

A small grin made its way onto his face at his discovery. Strange place to keep it, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Turning he showed his prize to the other man.

"A flare gun?" Justin asked, dubiously.

"It's worth a shot." Hunter replied, slipping it into the waist band of his blood covered jeans. "Will you two be alright here?" He asked as an after thought, pausing at the door. Justin offered a grim smile, shrugging.

"Anything comes through that door, is going to have to deal with me. I'm not letting anything touch Kyle." Hunter defiantly got the feeling that there was something more between the two than had originally been let on. "Just make sure you get some help for him."

He got the feeling that Justin wouldn't hesitate to come after him if something more were to happen to Kyle. He nodded, pushing the door open and slipping out into the hallway. First thing first he had to find Cam, and when he found him, he'd better be okay.

* * *

Cam couldn't move. That was the first thing he discovered when he awoke. The initial panic was still fresh in his mind as his memories came back to him and he quickly came to the conclusion that he wasn't with Hunter anymore.

He could remember the feeling of being dragged down a hallway before losing consciousness and the sore feeling in his back and head, alluding to being dragged down at least one flight of stairs as well.

His hands weren't tied, he discovered after tilting his head as much as he could manage. He merely couldn't move his arms or legs. His torso had a numb feeling to it as well, less severe than his limbs though.

Some sort of paralysing agent, he realised with a start, like what some insects used. The thought had brought on a fresh wave of panic, his breathing speeding up as he clenched his eyes closed in an attempt to calm down.

Scuffling noises off in the corner didn't really help him stop panicking. Cautiously, Cam opened his eyes, wishing he hadn't when he spotted the sloped figure of the creature. It was bent over something, something he realised with horror that was wearing one of the green research sweaters that all the researchers had. A strange gnawing noise reached his ears, as something snapped and something was tossed in his direction. A blood soaked bone, he realised with a start.

It was eating one of the researchers! The panic and fear was making him dizzy and if he wasn't careful, he would end up passing out, and that would not help him escape. If he didn't draw attention to himself, maybe it would give him enough time to find a way out.

The creature shifted, tearing off a large chunk of something he didn't want to think about, but now he could see the face of the body.

"Ruth!" The name escaped his lips, followed by bile rising in his throat. Even with large pieces of her face missing, he still knew who it was. Her hazel eyes were staring blankly at him, mouth open, lips and nose missing.

The creature hissed, turning to face him. Cam squeezed his eyes shut, holding his breath, praying to whoever was listening that it would leave him, that he wouldn't be dessert.

When nothing happened, he deemed it safe to open his eyes a crack, only to find the creature gone, leaving him and Ruth, alone.

* * *

At first he hadn't known where to start, it wasn't like the place was labelled with signs that told you exactly where to go, but apparently Tori and Shane had actually been paying attention to the layout of the place during the tour.

The main floor was deserted, giving the already spooky place an even scarier vibe, the wind from outside, whistled through the corridors, sounding liked pained moans. He didn't want to continue on that train of thought.

"In here." Shane muttered, slowly pushing the door open to reveal the communications room. Aside from a few chairs overturned and papers strewn around, the room appeared visibly untouched, compared to some of the other places they had passed on their way there.

"Look for the radio." Blake instructed, setting to work, shifting through piles of junk. Dustin headed for the opposite side of the room, glancing up as Shane joined him, offering him a brief smile.

"We'll get through this." Shane whispered, reassuringly. Dustin nodded, because there really wasn't anything he could say to that, that wouldn't come out sounding negative and at the moment, what they really needed was something positive.

* * *

He'd searched three floors and turned up nothing. His fear and worry was making him frustrated. Hunter had been so sure that the creature would have taken Cam to one of the lower levels, but he hadn't found anything.

Pushing open the door from the stairwell, he stepped out onto level four, crossing his fingers that he got it right this time. There was something different about the air there, something…musty. There was something different about this floor.

Hunter pulled out the flare gun, holding it out in front of him, insanely thankful for all those years of paintball, as he stealthily made his way along a hallway.

Cam had to be around there somewhere, he just had to keep looking. His foot slid a little as he took a step forwards, but he didn't fall this time, catching himself on a doorway. Crouching down, he ran his finger through it, bringing it up to his face for a better look. Blood, he swallowed thickly, firmly telling himself that it did not belong to the older man.

He wiped it off on his jeans, bringing the flare gun back up again and continuing down the hall. If he remembered correctly, this hallway led out into a slightly larger area, sort of a store house.

Inching forwards, he peered around, watching for any sign of movement in the dim light. Where the hallway opened up into a large room, crates and boxes of all sizes littered the floor.

"Cam?" He called out quietly, when he was sure that the creature wasn't around. "Cam? Are you down here?""

"Hunter!" The older mans voice sounded further away, but the blonde latched onto it like a life preserver, jogging out into the open.

"Where are you?" He called out again, trying to spot him.

"Over here, behind the crate. I can't move!" He came around the crate, relief shooting through him at the sight of the researcher on the floor. Kneeling down, he reached out, unsure of what to do, so he pulled Cam into a seated position so he was leaning against the crates.

"What's wrong? Why can't you move?"

"Some sort of paralyzing agent." Cam muttered, face ashen, eyes squeezed shut. "God, am I glad that you're here." Hunter nodded, surveying the area. He caught sight of the mauled researcher a few feet away, staring at them with lifeless eyes.

He shuddered, forcing himself to turn away from the gaze and back to the man in front of him.

"We need to get out of here." He announced. Cam gave him a pointed look, reminding him of the fact that he could not move. "I'll carry you." He just wanted them out of there, holed away somewhere safe until help came. This would take awhile, since he hadn't contacted anyone in his rush to find Cam, he realised with a sinking feeling.

"Come on." Hunter muttered, pushing aside the though and lifted the older man up bridal style with some difficulty.

"Hunter!" Cam shouted as something knocked into his from behind, sending them both sprawling on the floor. Damn, he shouldn't have let his guard down! He climbed to his knees, realising that the flare gun had flown from his hands in the fall. Cam lay a few feet away, on his side, back to him.

A hissing noise was the only warning he had before a claw clamped down around his arm, shooting immense pain through him, tossing him across the room. He landed with out grace, sliding until he hit the wall. The attack left him dazed as he tried in vain to get his body to cooperate.

The creature was ignoring him though; it had turned away from him, towards Cam. He fought against whatever was holding him in place, slowly regaining motor controls. The older man still lay on the floor, even as the creature loomed over him.

"Cam!" He called out, sluggishly pushing himself up, stumbling forwards. That thing had injected him with something, he realised, looking down at a large cut on his arm.

There was a loud crash from across the room as he looked up in time to see Cam standing, pipe in hand, swinging it at the creature. The effects of the chemical weren't permanent, he realised with relief.

Hunter stumbled his way over, stopping when he spotted something off in the corner. The flare gun! He hurried over as quickly as he could; tripping and landing hard, close by. If he just reached out, he'd have it.

Cam cried out, pain and terror lacing his voice. It was on him, blocking him from sight, he could hear its claws snapping, digging into flesh- could literally feel its blood lust growing larger and larger as it attacked the researcher.

His hands closed around the cool object.

The creature screamed in pain, writhing as its chest exploded in a shower of sparks. Hunter didn't miss. It collapsed forwards, onto of the unmoving man.

"Cam!" Hunter shouted, pushing himself unsteadily to his feet and rushing over, he dropped down next to them, using the remainder of his strength to push the corpse off the older man, holding his breath at what he might see.

Cam was staring blankly at the ceiling, dark blood staining his sweater.

"Cam!"

* * *

"_We're on our way."_ Tori breathed a sigh of relief, grinning broadly at the simple words. Help was on its way, they'd make it. Dustin and Shane were sprawled out on the floor, boneless with relief, leaning heavily against one another for comfort, to prove they were still there.

"They're on their way." She repeated, giddy feeling spreading through her. Blake shared her grin, on a whim, leaning in and kissing her. She returned the kiss eagerly, not caring about Shane and Dustin's cat calls.

"But dudes," Dustin said suddenly. "What about Cam and Hunter?"

That effectively killed the mood, the realisation that they didn't know what had happened to their friends, sinking in.

"We have to go find them." Blake told them, already heading for the door. None of them argued.

* * *

Cam blinked. His body felt like it was on fire, but the good kind of fire. It meant he was alive. Alive- the word circled around his mind, unsure of what emotion to feel.

"Cam, talk to me!" Hunter. Was that thing dead? For good this time? He slowly tilted his head to look at the blonde leaning over him. His chest hurt, he wanted to tell Hunter, but nothing came out of his mouth.

"We made it." Hunter announced, and if he didn't know any better, he would have sworn those were tears in the younger mans eyes. Impossible.

"Is it dead?" He asked, because he had to know, had to be sure. Hunter nodded, but he needed to see it, with his own eyes. He lurched up, regretting it when the world spun around him, only to have Hunter wrap his arms around him, supporting him as he stared at the creature, now unmoving on the floor.

"It's over?" He asked, disbelief colouring his voice. After all that, how he'd lost Frank and Ruth and probably countless others, it was over?

"Yeah." Hunter murmured, tilting his head so they were eye to eye. "It's over." Their lips met in an deep kiss, portraying their relief and sorrow and fear, everything they couldn't say in words.

"Let's get out of here." Hunter whispered, pulling back only far enough so their noses still brushed. Cam couldn't agree more.

* * *

Blake led the group down the stairs; eyes open for any sign of movement. There was growing apprehension inside of him, with every empty floor they checked. They were making their way down from the main floor, searching every room, and there was still no sign of his brother or Cam.

Thankfully enough, there had been no sign of the creature either. However it did make him wonder if it wasn't just busy with something, or someone- else.

Tori caught his arm suddenly, halting their path down the dimly lit stairs.

"Did you hear that?" She whispered urgently. He cocked his head, listening intently.

"I don't hear any-" He cut off this time hearing something. Blake signalled for the others to remain silently, leaning over the railing slightly in hopes of seeing if there was anything there. A few floors below, the sound of a door opening, and closing- echoed up to them.

"Get back!" He whispered, herding the others backwards up the stairs, quietly as they could pulling open another door and hiding on the other side of it. He left the door open a crack, curiosity winning out, so he could see what was coming.

He could feel Tori's hand resting on his back, the touch burned into his skin. Blake forced his thoughts back to the situation at hand. Muffled noises were becoming clearer, whatever it was, moving towards them.

He held his breath as the noises grew louder, grunting and heavy footsteps. It was almost like there were two of them, but that was impossible! They had only dug one out of the ice. Images of the creature asexually reproducing had him wishing that he hadn't taken those extra courses in high school. They were in a lot of trouble if that were the case.

"Just a little farther." He didn't need the urging from the others, as Blake stumbled through the doorway, stopping short of pulling his brother into a tight hug and never letting go.

"Hunter!" The blonde's eyes shot up in surprise, relief flooding through them as they spotted Blake. Cam was leaning heavily on Hunter, face pale, shirt soaked with blood. "Cam, are you alright, man?"

The researcher didn't even bother with a sarcastic reply, just resting more of his weight on the blonde.

"The creature's dead." Hunter announced, dangerous glint in his eye that made Blake wonder just what had gone on down there. He shoved it to the back of his mind; it didn't matter right now. The two older men standing before them appeared bloody and tired, tilting to the side.

Any questions he had could wait, he decided, helping Shane pull Cam away from Hunter and support him, Dustin and Tori keeping a close eye on the blonde.

"We need to get you guys bandaged up."

"Didn't we tell you guys to stay put?" Hunter managed a tired smirk, giving in and leaning on his friends for support.

"Yeah, well- we decided to go call for help." Tori grinned, no trace of regret in her words.

"Help?" Cam repeated hopeful tone in his voice.

"Yeah, they're on their way." Blake told him as they started up the stairs.

"Oh good."

* * *

They were found, hours later holed up in Kelly's office. The doctor in question was resting fitfully, curled up in the office chair. Justin had made enough extra space on the desk, while they were gone, so he could lie next to Kyle, hand held in a vice grip, every so often reaching out and smoothing out the bandages.

Hunter had set himself up on the floor, so he had his back to the wall, legs stretched out in front of him, with Cam leaning against his chest. At some point the researcher had drifted off, falling into a dreamless sleep, so Blake had gone over and laid a blanket out over the two.

It seemed that the rescuers had been expecting some epic battle, bursting in, guns not far from blazing. They had been disappointed to see most of the people they were supposed to be rescuing fast asleep.

Cam had adamantly refused to be taken out on a stretcher, which had led to a rather long argument between him and Hunter, until one of the medics had come over and checked him out properly, making them both relatively happy.

It wasn't until when they were being led out of the station, bundled up in winter coats, hats and gloves, waiting for their turns to board the helicopters that their group grew.

A larger group of researchers were led towards them, May and a few other familiar faces among them. It turned out that they had apparently been hiding out in one of their offices, door barricaded since the electricity had gone out.

Another small group was sent down to the basement levels to retrieve the creature, the station suddenly filled with military personnel. Their personal items would be sent to them at a later date, they were told, feeling no real interest in arguing the point. So long as they got away from the place, Cam decided, he could wait for a few books.

* * *

_**Epilogue- the aftermath.**_

Hunter watched as the first helicopter took off from the platform, Kyle and Justin securely on it, fading off into the distance. Tori, Dustin, Shane and his brother were slowly being herded onto the next one, despite their protests that the other survivors should go first. And that was what they were, really, survivors. He didn't want to think of himself as that, but it was the only thing that made sense.

"Stop thinking." Cam instructed, joining him, bandages hidden under layers of clothes. His mouth quirked up into a half smile. "Or at least tell me what you're thinking about."

"Justin. And Kyle." He amended at the other mans scandalous look. "What do you think is going on between the two of them?"

"They're not together if that's what you mean." Cam said, following his gaze to the four students being forced onto the helicopter. "Give it a week. Two at the tops." Cam smirked at Hunters confused look. "After all this, that's what you're thinking about?"

Now it was Hunters turn to shrug, smiling. "I just need a break from thinking for awhile."

They stood there, waiting to be called over. In a sudden movement, Hunter put his arm around Cam's shoulders, pulling him close, needing the contact.

"I'm going to miss it here, not this place- good riddance to this place." Cam shot him an incredulous look. "I mean, I don't know when I'll get to see you again."

"As soon as you go back to university." Cam announced. "They offered me a job there a little while ago. I hadn't gotten back to them on it, but-" He looked around, back at the large building. "I think I need a change of pace, no more excavations for awhile."

Hunter nodded, sad smile on his face, as they were finally called over to the helicopter; putting the past behind them.


End file.
